CPTnet
14 February 2008
AT-TUWANI UPDATE: January 2008

[Note: According to Geneva Conventions, the International Court of Justice in the Hague, and numerous U.N. resolutions, all Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories illegal.]


On team during this time were Tarek Abuata, Joy Ellison, Art Gish, Eileen Hanson, Steve Heinrichs, Sean O’Neill, and members of Operation Dove (Doves).

SUMMARY: During this month, Israeli settlers in cooperation with the Israeli military often prevented Palestinian shepherds from grazing their flocks, particularly in a valley called Mshaha, located south of the illegal settlement outpost, Hill 833. Israeli settlers consistently harassed the shepherds and called the army to chase the shepherds off the land. The Palestinian shepherds persisted in attempting to graze there because it is one of the few places with sufficient food for the flocks, due to the relative lack of rain this season.

The team continued its regular monitoring of the military escort of children to school in At-Tuwani. The team also observed additional construction in the illegal settlement outpost Hill 833.


Thursday, 3 January 2008
After a school day abbreviated because of exams, the children were ready to go home about 11:00 a.m., but the soldier escort had not yet arrived. A group of settlers with horses were gathered at the top of the hill where the children and escort needed to pass. The Palestinian children and the settlers yelled at each other. A few teenage settlers threw stones at the children. An adult settler stopped the teenagers from throwing stones and called them away.


Friday, 11 January 2008
While O’Neill and Gish accompanied a Palestinian shepherd in Mshaha valley, they observed a settler in a car on the hilltop, watching them and making phone calls. Shortly thereafter, the settlement security guard and four Israeli soldiers arrived. O’Neill had a short discussion with them about who owned the land and whether the shepherd was allowed to be there. As they were leaving, the soldiers stopped on the ridge above and ‘mooned’ CPTers and the shepherd. (See 29 January CPTnet release, "AT-TUWANI: Christian Peacemaker Teams releases video of soldiers exposing buttocks to Palestinian shepherd and international volunteers.") Video of the incident is available at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6505926642890909661&hl=en

Saturday 12 January 2008
A CPT delegation arrived in At-Tuwani. An afternoon talk from one of the key nonviolent organizers in the area was delayed because soldiers detained him at a checkpoint for over three hours. He spoke to the group in the evening instead.

CPTers O’Neill and Heinrichs received a call from a Dove saying five settlers were near the Palestinian village of Mfakra. The CPTers followed them toward Mshaha where t several Palestinian shepherds were grazing their flocks, accompanied by four Doves.

The settlers then moved behind some trees at Hill 833 and fired a series of six shots toward the shepherds. A Dove called the police, who arrived briefly but never got out of their jeep and left immediately. When the police were called a second time, they replied that they “had better things to do. (See 29 January CPTnet release, "AT-TUWANI: Christian Peacemaker Teams Releases Video of Settlers Firing on Palestinian Shepherds in South Hebron Hills.") Video of the incident is available at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5369538579313697940&hl=en

Sunday 13 January 2008
In the afternoon, Ellison, O’Neill, and Heinrichs observed settler men building at a house in the Hill 833. Five of these settlers carrying sticks or other objects came out toward where Palestinian shepherds were grazing, but then returned to the house.

Monday 14 January 2008
A Palestinian shepherd told the team that someone had broken several olive trees nearby had been broken the night before. (See 23 January 2008 CPTnet release, " AT-TUWANI: Olive trees destroyed in the night.")

Around 10:00 a.m., Doves accompanied Palestinian shepherds from Tuba grazing their flocks in Mshaha. The security guard from the settlement drove nearby with a video camera. About 11:30 a.m., the Israeli army arrived and told the shepherds they could not graze there. The shepherds moved down the valley, away from the settlement outpost.

About 1:00 p.m., the army arrived again. Most of the shepherds fled down the valley, and returned home. One remained with his flock a short distance away. Hanson and two Doves joined him for tea on the hillside before he returned home.

Tuesday 15 January 2008
While accompanying shepherds, Ellison and a Dove observed the settlement security guard looking out from Hill 833. Shortly thereafter, three soldiers arrived and walked down the hill and yelled at the shepherds. The shepherds took their flocks a short distance away, but remained in the area.

Ellison and the Dove spoke with the soldiers. The soldiers said that the area was Israeli land and that Palestinians had to leave. Ellison and the Dove showed them a document from the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), which outlines court rulings governing Palestinians' access to agricultural lands, and the Israeli military’s obligation to uphold these rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The soldiers claimed it was an old document and did not apply and threatened to arrest the shepherds if they came back. They also claimed that the shepherds had never been to Mshaha before, but only came over the previous three days because the presence of internationals made them feel “brave.” Ellison assured them that Palestinians came to this area every year to graze their flocks.

Wednesday, 16 January 2008
Ellison and a Dove responded to a call from a family whom a settler threatened while they were repairing their contaminated cistern (See 19 January 2008 release, " AT-TUWANI: Cistern contaminated in Humra Valley.") They reported that earlier a settler from the direction of the nearby settlement outpost of Avigail drove by and told the family that he had called the police, who would be coming out to arrest them for working without a permit.

Thursday, 17 January 2008ld CPTers that the commander admitted that he was new to the area. When
O’Neill and Heinrichs accompanied Palestinian shepherds from about noon to 3:30 p.m. The shepherds were grazing near the site of a previously evacuated illegal settlement outpost. From there, the CPTers observed ongoing construction at one of the houses in the current site of Hill 833.

Friday, 18 January 2008
In the morning, CPTers Hanson and Heinrichs accompanied shepherds grazing in Mshaha Valley, near Hill 833. They saw the settlement guard on the hilltop, watching the shepherds from his truck. A few minutes later, an army jeep arrived and shepherds fled. Three of the soldiers got out of the jeep and chased the shepherds on foot, but never caught up to them. The shepherds returned home with their flocks.

About 2:30 p.m., CPTers Hanson and Heinrichs went to accompany a family plowing in Tuwani. Shortly after, an Israeli army jeep arrived and told the family to stop plowing. The settlement guard also arrived, and spoke with the commander.

The Palestinian landowner spoke with the soldiers in Hebrew. Later he to the landowner mentioned that often new commanders in this area take their orders from the settler security and asked if this commander had done that, the commander emphatically said, “No.” The commander then said that the land was ‘his’ land – not the settlers, not the Palestinians', but his. The Palestinian landowner corrected him, saying, in fact this was his land, and he wanted to appeal to the law to decide the matter. Eventually, the commander agreed to call the District Coordinating Officer (DCO) of the Israeli Civil Administration, who decides such matters in the area. Ultimately, the DCO ruled that the family could continue plowing.

Sunday, 20 January 2008
While CPTers O’Neill and Heinrichs accompanied Palestinian shepherds in Mshaha valley, the Israeli army came and asked for identification from O’Neill and one of the Palestinian shepherds. After checking the IDs, the soldiers said that the shepherds could remain where they were so long as they did not go close to the trees at Hill 833.

Later, a group of settlers walked up the road to a hilltop nearby and looked down on the shepherds. One of the group was carrying an automatic weapon. The soldiers went to speak with the settlers, who then made their way back to the outpost. The soldiers positioned their jeep between the outpost and the shepherds in the valley.

Around 1:00 p.m., the soldiers approached a second time and reversed their original decision, saying that the shepherds had to leave the area. CPTer O’Neill asked them to check again with the District Coordinating Officer (DCO), since earlier he had said shepherds could remain in that area.

The soldirs came back and reverted to the original decision, saying that the shepherds were fine where they were. At this point ,the soldiers left, and the shepherds grazed freely in Mshaha valley.

About 2:00 p.m., soldiers returned a third time and reversed their decision again, saying the shepherds had to take their sheep and go home. This time they told both the shepherds and CPTers that they were not allowed ever to come back to that area.

Thursday 24 January 2008
Three Israeli army jeeps and the settlement guard arrived while two Doves were accompanying Palestinian shepherds in Mshaha valley. Soldiers chased away the shepherds. The soldiers and the settlement guard both said that the land was a closed military zone and that the shepherds could not stay there. The Palestinian shepherds moved away, farther down the valley, so the Doves accompanied them while they continued to graze the flocks, until about 3:00 p.m.

Friday 25 January 2008
O’Neill and a Dove accompanied two young shepherd boys in Mshaha. Soldiers arrived and demanded that the shepherds move father down the valley, away from the settlement outpost. The shepherds refused to leave, and sat down on the hill. O’Neill spoke with the soldiers, asking what they would do next. The soldiers did not seem to know what to do in the face of this refusal. The shepherds then began making tea, and offered some to the soldiers, who refused it. A short while later, the soldiers left, and the shepherds remained there.

In the afternoon, CPTer O’Neill and a Dove left to participate in a solidarity convoy of Israelis bringing relief supplies to Gaza.

At about 3:30 p.m., soldiers set up a checkpoint on the road just outside of Tuwani. Gish and a Dove responded. The only unusual thing that occurred was a medium-sized car arriving with two camels in the back seat. Soldiers held the driver for at least a half hour to check his ID. When Gish asked the driver if there was a problem, he responded, “With soldiers there is always a problem.”

Sunday 27 January 2008
In the morning, CPTers Gish and Tarek Abuata accompanied shepherds on Mshaha. Soldiers arrived soon after and told the shepherds they were not allowed to be in that area, because settlers are not safe if Palestinians are anywhere where they can see the outpost.

Abuata and Gish reminded the soldiers that the Israeli High Court has ruled that the army is obliged to uphold the agricultural rights of Palestinians, including their right to graze their flocks. They also reminded the soldiers that the area is Palestinian land and that the shepherds should be allowed to graze on their own land. A soldier quickly responded, "This is Israel." Gish told the soldier that the land is not Israel, that it is Palestinian territory, that even President George Bush recognizes the area is Palestinian territory. Gish then said, “The real reason for not allowing these shepherds to be on their own land is that you are helping the settlers to steal this land. Do you want peace, or do you want to take the land?”

The soldiers ordered everyone to leave, but a shepherd asked to talk to the commander, or someone from the DCO. At 10:50 a.m., a higher-ranking officer came, took one of the shepherds aside, and threatened to kill the sheep if he sees the shepherd in that area again.

Thursday 31 January 2008
The team woke up to six inches of snow, the first accumulation of snow in At-Tuwani in ten years. Multiple snowball fights erupted throughout the village.